§ 9. Mrs. Castleasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that under the scheme for control of flour at the source, which has succeeded bread rationing, many bakers are unable to obtain all the flour needed to meet the demand from their customers; and whether he will consider revising the scheme in order to enable the public to buy their full requirements of bread and confectionery from the bakers of their choice.
§ Mr. StracheyWe cannot yet relax the flour restriction scheme to allow individual bakers to cater for increased demands. Bakers are obtaining the same amount of flour as they received during the year ended 26th June, 1948, and will, therefore, be able to supply their customers with the same amount of bread and flour confectionery.
§ Mrs. CastleIs my right hon. Friend aware that a number of bakers are only able to keep going at all by drawing in advance on their next quota of flour? Does not this indicate that there is a demand from their customers which at present they are not in a position to meet?
§ Mr. StracheyYes, it is quite true that any scheme of this sort freezes the distribution of flour in the existing proportions to bakers, and that is regrettable, and we should very much like to get rid of it. However, it does not diminish the total amount of flour issued to the country.